Baldanders, Acies Castle & the Citadel

Chris · 29 Jul 2003, 18:46 · from urth-v0307.mbox · original

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From: "Chris" <rasputin_ at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: (urth) Baldanders, Acies Castle & the Citadel
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 18:46:23 +0000
Message-ID: <urth-v0307-3820 at digest.urth.net>
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Josh said:
>Thecla's friend asked if the Fish was real, Father Inire told
>her that for an image to exist without something to reflect
>it is an impossibility. Therefore, the Fish would come into
>being (I just now noticed that it is a Fish).

I always liked that, though it really reminds me something similar I read=20
around the same time but cannot remember. I am tempted to say that it was=20
something from Borges "Labyrinths", but I might be thinking that just=20
because the subject of Borges is fresh.

>And at Baldander's
>castle, Dr. Talos asks Severian if he doesn't realize that
>events cast their shadow into the past, where they echo and re-echo:
>see now? The castle, the wise man and the monster?

Particularly interesting, given that Baldanders then slips into the water t=
o=20
join Abaia and the rest; the subsurface "monsters" being seen as events fro=
m=20
the past (and presents that might-have-been) casting their shadow on the=20
future.

>BTW, I myself don't have a strong opinion one way or the other about
>Baldanders standing in for Delany. On this list we find all of the
>puzzles that Gene Wolfe put in his books, all of the puzzles that he
>didn't put there but are inherent either in the structure of the books
>or of Reality, all of the puzzles that exist only in our minds, and
>probably one or two that don't have any existence.

Well said.

One of the things about Wolfe which I'm curious about is that I would think=20
he *has* to understand the way in which these puzzles multiply, beyond even=20
what was intended (which is considerable in its own right). Yet in=20
interviews he doesn't come across that way at all; I know it's been=20
commented on before. I guess the general opinion is that he doesn't like to=20
be asked over and over again for simple answers to impossible questions, an=
d=20
employs a sort of "ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer" defense.

On the other hand, it does seem a bit at times like he assumes that the tex=
t=20
says nothing more than what he put in it, and that there is a correct=20
reading intended which can be deductively arrived at.

If I had the chance to ask Wolfe one question, I would probably ask him=20
about this rather than anything specific about his stories.

-- Civet

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Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. =20
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--=20

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